My U.S. Pat. No. 6,292,987 is directed to a tie down device for sheet material such as tarps and includes an elongated bar and a sleeve having a slit extending from end to end thereof. The sleeve's ends are open for receiving the bar and a sheet of material positioned around the bar. The sleeve's slit enables sheet material positioned around the bar to project outwardly through the slit on opposite sides of the bar. The bar's cross section is sized and configured so that both the bar and the sheet material can be received in the sleeve. In addition, rope means such as rope, cord or cable is secured to the bar. The rope means extends through the slit when the bar is received in the sleeve and enables the device to be placed under tension so that the bar binds the sheet material positioned around the bar against the sleeve. This binding action firmly secures the sheet material to the device and thereby prevents the sheet material from slipping out of the device between the bar and the sleeve.
While the aforementioned tie down device works very well, it is somewhat limited in the sense that, as described above, the device generally cannot be placed under tension unless it is attached to a rope, cord or cable. Accordingly, it would be desirable if the aforementioned device could be improved so that it is more amenable to being placed under tension without using a rope, cord or cable.
With this and other objects in mind, this invention consists in certain novel features of construction, combination and arrangement of parts to be hereinafter more fully described and claimed.